Animal Agriculture is Destroying the Planet

Climate Change Brief

Scientists around the world agree that climate change is the biggest threat to our planet in thousands of years. They say that we have 10 years to fix this problem.
If we fail to do so, the results will be catastrophic. All the fires and floods will result in food shortages. We see the evidence of that starting already. Eventually, this will cause civilization to collapse. The extinction of our natural world, as we know it, is on the horizon.

Governments must ban all fossil fuel production, at any cost. Switch to green energy. It creates more long term jobs than fossil fuels. Implement tree planting programs. Ban commercial fishing and retract old gear. The plastic problem must be dealt with. Develop a Green New Deal for the planet.

The best thing that individuals can do, by far, is to avoid using any animal products whatsoever. We can choose what we eat and what we wear. This is the most impactful single action that we can take, that would benefit both the environment and climate change, hands down. I really don't know of any other single action that would have such a profound effect in so many different areas as this one.

Here's why:
Approximately 95% of all meat in grocery stores is from factory farms. The way animals are treated there is beyond horrific. Sir Paul McCartney said that if slaughter houses had glass walls, we'd all be vegetarians. Because of their extreme overcrowding, they are given huge amounts of antibiotics, which are responsible for super-bugs ie. SARS, MRSA, Bird and Swine Flu pandemics, Mad Cow Disease, Listeria etc. About 75% of all meat on grocery store shelves contains these super-bugs. Because of store practices regarding expiration dates and repackaging, ecoli, salmonella and campylobacter are routinely found there. To hurry the growth process along, they are given hormones, which are carcinogenic, as is the arsenic given to chickens.
Cardiologists support plant-based whole-food diets because they help patients avoid stents, lower cholesterol, reverse diabetes, come off multiple medications and lose weight, By 2020, the health care system will have spent $285 billion on related costs of eating red and processed meat.

Animal agriculture is responsible for 55% of all fresh water usage and 51% of all greenhouse gases. This is according to Kip Anderson of “ Cowspiracy”. Also, 90% of all crops grown in the USA is for the animals that humans eat. Just 10% is for people. If we didn't have to feed all the animals you eat, there would be enough food for everyone in the world. Animal agriculture requires much more land than crops. Only 4% of all animals are wild, while 96% are domesticated, mostly farm animals. Of the entire bird population, 70% are chickens. Factory farms with 800,000 pigs produce 1.6 million tons of poop a year. There are 1.5 billion cows in the USA. Each cow poops 130X more than a human. We are physically and technically incapable of dealing with that much poop. Eighty percent of all antibiotics manufactured is used on farm animals, of which 75% passes undigested in their urine and manure. This contaminates crops and waterways. Animal agriculture is also the leading player in the reduction of biodiversity, since it is the major driver of deforestation,species annihilation, land degradation, pollution, over-fishing, dead zones in coastal areas and facilitates the invasion of alien species.

So, there it is, in a nutshell. How can such a hugely negative industry exist at all? It defies logic. Governments should have banned factory farms and slaughterhouses decades ago. Fighting industrial dictatorship won't be easy- but necessary. We need to act right now, and to put our money where our mouths are- literally. This is because the survival of our families is at stake. Sept. 20 and 27 are the dates of the next Climate Strikes. Be there, or host one. Let everyone know that Veganism Mitigates Climate Change. Do it for the planet. Do it for your family. They probably won't survive, if you don't.